What It Takes
by Catrina
Summary: Traveling with Kyo, Yuya is taken and her life is in danger. Will Kyo reach her in time? Does he want to? [KxY ONESHOT revised]


Title: What it Takes

Author: Catrina

Disclaimer: I don't own SDK, but wish that I could only be half that creative

Authors Notes: This is my first SDK fic. I have written some other fics mostly Sailor Moon, Gundam Wing, and a Gravitation fic. As always let me know what you think good or bad…just be respectful please. Again, thanks to my sister for proofing this fic for me, but due to the response of reviews that noted spelling errors I have gone through the fic myself to see if I could find them, and I found quite a few, but it's so hard to catch them in your own stories. :( Hopefully there are fewer mistakes this time around. Thanks for those who did read and respond! I appreciate your honesty.

Unfortunately I have only read two of the mangas but I own and have obsessively watched the anime many times, so this will be based on the anime after the last episode. And of course Kyo won…like Kyoshiro could ever beat Kyo again (duh). Now on to the story…

00-00-00-00

"Woman, just go away." Kyo muttered a little angry at the bounty huntress. His voice took on a tone Yuya had never heard before.

That man just had a way of making her angry. There was no denying it; when ever they were together her temper was on a short fuse. Kyo just had a way of aggravating her to the point of no return, but today, unlike normal, she stayed silent. Sometimes just the fact the he was who he was annoyed her; his rudeness, vulgar actions and vocabulary and total lack of sensitivity. Did the man really not realize that he actually hurt her at times? Such off handed comments seemed to crush her. You would think after this long of traveling with him she would know, and be immune to it, but she wasn't. In a way she wanted him to be different, but stay the same. She had somehow fallen in love with this rude, crass man and the last thing she wanted to do was to ask him to change. But what she really wanted to know was whether or not he felt anything for her. After two years nothing, not a hug, not a kiss, not even a touch. Lost in thought she was silent, which seem to give her traveling companion pause. He looked her way, studying her with his intense ruby gaze before turning away.

"What's your problem?" He growled when she stayed silent. She looked at him, her wide jade eyes sad, for some reason he was unaware.

"One day, Kyo, you will regret the way you treat me." She told him, walking past him as he stilled to contemplate what she had said. He shook his head and grunted in response. Sure her and her bounty hunting were what kept both of them fed, and when they decided to stay at an inn it was her money that paid for it. But those were things he really didn't need, if she weren't around he would find ways to eat and have shelter for a night. She wasn't that necessary but still the thought of her going away was unnerving. After he had defeated his nemesis, she had followed with out question, and he had let her. Even more he had known that she would. There was a part of her that belonged to him and he knew it and assumed that she did as well. Normally she knew him well enough to not expect gratitude or a 'thank you' from him. She was one of the people that knew him almost as well as he knew himself. He watched as she continued to walk in front of him. She had grown older, no doubt. She stood about two inches taller and her wheat colored hair fell down to her lower back when not pulled out of the way. Her face and body had both slimmed down while her breasts had grown slightly larger, but he did still comment on her being underdeveloped. They had traveled together for almost two years now and nothing had truly changed. In a way, he still wondered around looking for a swordsman to beat. But for Yuya, he had already slain the killer of her brother, and he was unsure of what her purpose was in life. She was an unusual woman, with exotic looks, and a kind heart, and he wondered why she chose to travel with him. Normally he would simply reject her, send her away; he liked to be alone. But for some reason with this girl he did not. Something about her had him protecting her, keeping her safe, even if she was unaware that he was doing so. He watched as she continued to walk in front of him, and if he was honest he didn't like the idea that if he stopped walking, she could keep going, and just walk away. She stopped when she noticed that he was no longer following and turned over her shoulder to look at him. Her eyes forgiving him like they always did.

"Are you coming?" She asked her voice was soft reaching him only with the help of the gentle breeze. He nodded shortly and continued to walk coming up beside her.

"Woman you are an annoyance." He grumbled looking over to her to see her smile slightly.

"And you never change." Again they came to a stop, but this time something was wrong. Something had Kyo reaching for his weapon, something that Yuya was unaware of.

"Behind me." He ordered as Yuya obeyed moving slightly behind him. She glanced around her looking for the enemy but she could see no one.

"Kyo?" She asked slightly touching his shoulder cautiously, "What is it?"

"Shut up." He told her glaring at her sparingly. He waited for just another moment before the area around them started to fill with a dense fog. Not unusual, many people were taught how to create a fog like the one surrounding him now, though he had never felt the need to do so. Footsteps slowly made their way to the clearing where he and Yuya were standing.

"So this is the frightening Omi no Kyo." A voice whispered, he was still unable to see his opponent through the gathering fog.

"We were told that she was traveling with a swordsman but had no idea it was a legend." A second voice commented. For a moment the arrival of a second person gave him pause…he had heard no one else walking.

"There shouldn't be any problems." The first voice commented.

"What do you want?" Kyo asked wondering for a moment why these people were here…it didn't sound as if he was the target. He turned over his shoulder glancing at Yuya who stood close to his back, her hand on her pistol waiting to see if she would have to defend herself. Good god…didn't she know by know that he would protect her. He noticed that the fog around them got even more severe, to the point where he could no longer see the bounty huntress, he could only feel her body heat, but soon that was lost as well.

"Kyo!" His named slipped out of her lips before they could quiet her. And when the fog dissipated, she was gone.

They disappeared as quickly as they had come and as Kyo glanced around him as he looked for Yuya but she was gone, taken away with the fog as it had evaporated. "Yuya?" He voiced her name the word feeling odd coming out of his lips. He couldn't feel her… smell her… nothing. He looked down to the ground and smirked; now he knew for sure she had been taken. He bent to the ground and picked up the three-chambered pistol that was her one prize possession. She had only lost it once before. He tucked it away in his armor and proceeded to look for her. There had to be a trace, and he would allow no one to take something that belonged to him.

00-00-00-00

"Really, Saizo?" The blue-eyed man asked, surprise written over his somewhat feminine features.

"Hai, Sir. No doubt she was taken."

"Truly bad luck on her part, the Yamato Clan is desperate to resurrect their pillar of power. Rumor is they need a foreign woman to do so. How ever they must not be aware that Miss Yuya is not a foreigner. Well not truly, she does look to be a foreigner." The leader of the Sanada Clan mussed out loud.

"Hai Sir." Saizo agreed still on one knee in front of his master.

"And Kyo?" Sanada questioned.

"At a stand still sir. He is on the right path. I am assuming he concluded that they discovered her in the last village, he is currently en route."

"So he's going after her then?" Yukimura whispered. "I wondered if he would. But then again after this long, I would have assumed they were more then just companions."

"Sir, not by my observation. Never once did they even touch until the ambush."

"Really?" Yukimura was curious now.

"Sir." Saizo told him confirming his last statement.

"Well shall we help them? I really would hate to see something happen to Miss Yuya. I rather like her you know." Saizo again nodded and waited.

"For goodness sakes get up off your knees and get Sasuke. We will assist Kyo. Whether he likes it or not." He insisted before striding off to get his own weapon.

00-00-00-00

It took all her strength and willpower to even open her eyes. Her nerves were tingling throughout her body and her head hurt beyond compare. Her wrists and ankles were bound to a pillar that ran to the tall ceiling of the circular room. She tried to turn her head but dizziness took over and she closed her eyes to ward off the nauseating feeling running from her stomach and up her throat. Slowing this time she opened her green eyes to look around. She was alone. Somehow she had been taken. For a moment tears filled her eyes remembering what Kyo had said before the attack. _Just go away woman. _ Well now he had his wish. She was gone and she had this feeling that nothing was going to make him come after her. Darkness settled over her heart as thoughts flew through her brain. This was what he wanted, he wouldn't save her… there was no reason. He never really came to save the day. She heard a door open and tried to pin point if a person had come in. Then she felt a callused hand on her face pulling up her chin to look at her captor. She blinked at him expecting something else. He was short almost the size of a child. Short black hair framed his oval face, and wide set black eyes glared at her.

"Took you long enough to wake up." He commented. The voice went along with the image, it was male, but still a high voice.

"Sorry," She said somewhat sarcastically, "Your fault for knocking me out." She gratefully accepted when the young boy poured much needed water down between her lips.

"Oh and she has spunk too. How about that?" He asked and she looked behind him to see a taller man that looked almost identical. Behind him was a woman who shared the looked but her eyes where a cinnamon color, but still she saw no warmth there.

"We are very luck that we came across you, Miss?" The older gentleman asked. She paused for a moment unsure whether she should give out her name.

"Shiina Yuya." She said softly.

"Miss Shiina." The gentle man nodded, "You have the chance to be involved in something great." The man paused dramatically. "You are going to resurrect our king."

"Really?" She asked, noting that the world around her was starting to waver and blur.

"Yes, Miss Shiina. Tomorrow night is a full moon, and when that moon shines into this room, we will drain all the blood from your body and it will be transferred to that being over there." She looked in shock as a stone statue sat about ten feet way from her. It was then that she noticed the grooves in the floor that all started from the shallow groove around the base of the pillar that she was bound to. "You Miss Shiina will revive the Yamato Clan." Again she tried to focus on the man talking but she couldn't.

"Father, the drug is taking effect. She will be silent until tomorrow evening." The girl spoke for the first time. Yuya tried to focus on her but it was in vain. The whole room was spinning around her and she had lost feeling in her limbs. Before the world went back she realized that this was it. That she would die here, she would never see Kyo or any of her other friends again. Inside her heart was breaking and then she was relieved when she realized her end was near. There was no way she could keep living if she was alone, and she knew that her companion days with Kyo were over. He had told her to go away, it was her luck she was doing it permanently.

00-00-00-00

He could hear her…

"_Kyo, the sun is setting, we should set up camp."_

"_Kyo, what would you like to eat tonight."_

"_I'm going to the river, Kyo."_

"_Are you all right, Kyo?"_

He missed the damned woman. She was gone no more then 12 hours and he was already hearing her musical voice in his head. He had seen her too, twice, he could swear to it. He knew her sweet scent anywhere and he knew that only Yuya had that color of hair. He kept walking, slowly making his way, looking for any trace of her… But the voice in his head was right the sun was setting and it was harder to find traces of her. Along the way her yukata had been snagged and he had found two swatches of material. At least he knew that he was on the right track.

He sighed as he felt the three familiar presences fall in around him.

"Kyo." Yukimura's energetic voice came from his left.

"What's up?" Saskue's voice came from his right. He assumed the Saizo was the person following slightly behind as was the man's respectful habit.

"What do you want?' Kyo growled looking at the leader of the trio.

"Well, I am looking for Miss Yuya." Yukimura stated seeing the anger flit across the other man's face. "I thought she was traveling with you."

"She was." He snapped at the other man.

"No need to be angry, Kyo. We are here for ourselves only." The white-haired ninja informed him.

"What the hell does that mean?" He asked turning his heated glare to the person on his right.

"Well if they succeed in killing Miss Yuya, then the Yamato Clan, they are the ones who took her by the way…" He paused in his small speech to smirk at the slayer of a thousand men who looked back angry with him for simply knowing where Yuya was when he did not, "they will be a threat to the Sanada Clan and I can't have that." He concluded with a nod of his head.

"Fine… Do as you wish. But she will not die today."

"Of course not… they will kill her tomorrow night." Sasuke said with conviction. "When the moon is full. They are an odd superstitious clan." He added as a side note.

"The bitch will not die until I allow her to die." He informed them simply as confident as ever.

"Kyo, so emotional…are you worried?" Sasuke taunted.

"Do you miss her?" Yukimura joined in well aware that not only were they angering him, but also that they were correct. The fact that Kyo was staying silent was even more telling. They could see the lights of the village glowing in the distance; finally part of their journey was coming to an end.

"Shall we stay at an inn?" Yukimura asked his companions gaining a nod from each only then did he turn to Kyo.

"As long as they have sake." Kyo relented and the evening came to an uneventful end.

Sleep was something that was evading him despite the fact it was well into the night. It was as if he was so used to her presence that since it was missing he couldn't relax. The idiot ninjas had said that they were going to use Yuya, for what he was unaware, but he would question them tomorrow. They only had tomorrow to find where the ceremonial room was and then to get Yuya. Why did that woman always stumble into trouble? It was like it was attracted to her. Never had he met anyone besides himself that got attacked as much as she did. And she was right, because he did regret the last things he said to her, and he knew better than anyone else that if the could not find her right away it was her will to survive that would hold on until he arrived. He was afraid that he had put a waiver in her will, she had been too serious, too quite that moment that she was taken, but he never thought that she could have been taken from him so easily. In a way he felt like a fool. But with the Sanada Clan and all their information along with his determination there was no doubt that in his mind that they would find her. His thought process slowly droned him into an uneasy sleep.

He awoke as the others were waking, and silently they packed up and went to the lobby of the small inn for breakfast. "So about the enemy?" Kyo asked watching the Sanada Leader as he worked away his full plate of breakfast.

"Well, the Yamato Clan controlled Japan oh…about a thousand years ago. When they fell, the clan became very small… I would say there are about 50 of them at the most. Their leader was killed by a foreigner. A Dutchman I believe, known for blue or green eyes and blond or brown hair. Well this Dutchman drained all their leaders' blood then encased him in stone. They referred to their leader as their pillar of power. Over the last few years the Yamato Clan has grown slightly in power, due to the fact that they found a 'spell book' that had the curse that sealed their leader. During this month, I found out that they had fully translated the book and thought that they had figured out how to revive there leader." He paused in his speech to study the samurai and as the man remained expressionless, he shrugged his shoulders. He noted that Saize and Sasuke were finished. "Saizo, Sasuke, go and investigate. Report back to me."

"Hia." Saizo bowed his head respectfully and then disappeared.

"Hai." Sasuke grumbled and walked out the door glaring at the red eyed slayer. "I want to hear the rest of the story too." He mumbled childishly on his way out the door.

"Anyway…to revive the leader, they will most likely have Yuya shackled to a pillar, and then they will slowly drain her blood with shallow cuts on her wrist and thighs and elsewhere across her body. The blood will then travel through channels and revive the king."

"Where?" He asked, visions of the ceremony already running through his head. Never had he cursed his active imagination until that moment.

"That's the part I don't know. They would have had to have built a special chamber, within the past year or so. My information said that it would be a circular room, with an open ceiling, pillar in the middle of the room, shackles of course."

"You certainly have a lot of information about this." Red eyes watched the other man curiously.

"They may be a threat to the Sanada Clan." He concluded. Kyo rose nodding his head and headed out the door.

"Kyo, we should meet back here to see what we find out…sundown." He hollered as he walked to the door. The samurai looked over his shoulder and nodded then went on his way.

00-00-00-00

The sun was shining directly in the room when she woke. She was slightly dizzy and tired. She was still in the same predicament as before meaning that it wasn't a dream. She really had once again gotten herself into an impossible situation.

"You woke up earlier then I though, the drug I put in the water was very strong." She turned her head to look at the young boy that had helped to take her hostage. Again his black eyes were glaring at her. She tried to speak but found that her throat was to dry to form words. He reached beside him to grab the small water container there. When she shook her head he laughed slightly. "I can't drug you any more. Your blood must be free of any toxins when we offer it to the king." He informed her, so trusting the boy she drank from the canteen and coughed as it when down. The taste of water was slightly foreign after the last night. "You should be scared." He commented after studying her and realizing that there was no fear in her features.

"I've been in worse predicaments." She informed him, her voice was raw and wavering slightly.

"Your comrade will not make it in time. So do not pin your hopes on the samurai that you were traveling with." Her eyes widened and her jaw dropped slightly.

"Kyo's looking for me?" Her voice held a slight tone of awe.

"I'm sure he was not very happy at us for taking his woman…but we had no choice. He will be too late." Yuya was still in shock that he was actually looking for her. Then she smiled, not only at the joy of knowing that Kyo was coming, but the fact that when he had told her to just go away in that severe tone of voice that she hadn't heard before, that he didn't mean it. He wanted to find her. He was looking for her, and now she had a reason to keep fighting. The boy was startled for a moment at the renewed look of life in the girl's eyes. Maybe he had made a mistake. For he knew what a person would will themselves to do, and he sensed an amazing strength in this woman. "Don't get your hopes up. He will not find us, no matter how hard he looks." With that he pulled a small dagger from his back and watched her jade eyes go wide. His demented laughter filled the room and rang off the walls. He stabbed it directly above her head in a slot she was unaware of.

Her response was to glare at him. "You must not know Kyo very well if you think that he will not find me. There is only one person I know that is more hard headed then him." She commented noting that the boy seemed to be growing less confident with each word she spoke.

"And who's that?" He asked his youthful curiousness getting the best of him.

"Me." She smiled as the boy turned and stomped out the door. Then she sent up her silent vow. _"If I mean anything to you, Kyo, you better damn well save me, cause if I die here you will never get rid of me and I will haunt you forever."_

00-00-00-00

Kyo pushed the man against the column behind him physically lifting the man off of his feet. His red eyes seemed to glow in the darkened room. The blacksmith's eyes grew wide and fearful at the man's display of power. He tried to gain footing but his feet simply dangled in the air. He gasped for breath as the man cut of his airflow.

"I'll tell you….what ever you want…" He gasped between each breath trying to get oxygen to flow into his brain. He then found himself dropped to the ground. "To the east, they built a building under the ground. The entrance is located a mile out of town by the monk's cemetery. There is a small cave…leads underground. I built the pillars for them…they asked for a bunch of strange stuff." He looked up into the blood red eyes of the demon disguised as a man above him.

"Enough, you will guide me there." He told him placing a hand on his sword. He looked out the window realizing that the sun was setting. He grabbed the man pushing him out the door and walked over to the inn where they had stayed the night. When he arrived the others stood there, ready for combat.

"They have more men then we originally thought." Sasuke informed Kyo. "They hired a mercenary army to protect their fortress. All we know is that it is to the east."

"He'll take us." Kyo informed the others throwing the man responsible for designing the building and shackles that were most likely holding Yuya captive now.

"How generous." Yukimura responded bouncing down the stairs and looking to sunset and looking to where the full moon was starting to rise. "We need to go." He stated seriously before starting to walk to the east, with his ninjas while Kyo pushed the guide with his sword.

Already the blacksmith was walking as slowly as possible, his clan was important but resurrecting the king was not more important then his own life. He looked at the warriors around him and knew that either way he would most likely die tonight and he had no choice simply because he was a Yamato. He stumbled over his own feet only to find a sword to his throat.

"Stop playing games or your life may end tonight." Kyo announced already figuring out what the man was thinking.

"You're Clan will not succeed." Sasuke informed him, "No clan will threaten the Sanada Clan's power." The man snarled at the other clan's name but then selfishly decided that maybe this group may let him live. Coming to that conclusion he started to walk a little faster before the one mile mark they noticed warriors protecting a cave entrance.

"There." He pointed to the cave and Yukimura cut the rope that bonded him and growled at the other man.

"If you value your life run from here and pray that we forget your infidelity to your clan." The man trembled at this other side of the 'nice' man of the group and stumbled as he ran for his life. Kyo looked at the other warrior and quirked and eyebrow.

"Let him live…he will speak with terror of the Sanada Clan." The group of four approached silently and drew their weapons in the same fashion.

"Now comes the fun part." Sasuke commented in a hushed tone before rushing forward weapon drawn followed closely by the other three. Within seconds the mercenaries were dead and blood dripped from the blades of the warriors.

"Shall we?" Yukimura asked waving a hand in the direction of the opening.

"We shall." Kyo returned, looking at the blade dripping with blood and for one of the first time he could remember, he didn't enjoy the view.

00-00-00-00

Robed men fell in rows around the path her blood would take to the statue of the king. Since talking with the boy this afternoon she felt panic for the first time. The girl she remembered stood by the state paging through a foreign ancient book as the older man that had first told her everything, approached her. Once to the pillar he grabbed the dagger that the boy had placed above her head earlier. The full moon illuminated the room, and as she normally loved a full moon she dreaded seeing it tonight. The elder man looked back to the girl who nodded and started chanting foreign words and Yuya knew she looked shocked as the book and statue of the 'king' started to glow.

"Don't worry Miss Shiina. This is for a good cause." He said and she hissed as the blade cut horizontally across one of her wrist. "We can't have you losing blood to quickly." She looked down herself to see blood draining from her wrist and dropping off her dangling fingers to see blood starting to pool at the bottoms of the pillar.

"You will pay for this." She threatened glaring at him.

"I doubt it." The boy said softly and came up beside the man. "Father…" He stated for the first time identifying his relationship to the man and the girl.

"Yes, Jin, just remember, shallow cuts." He handed the dagger over to his son as he went to cut her other wrist and cut through the skin. She noted that the blood gathering was already starting to flow down the shallow cuts in the floor aided by the glow coming from the book and the girl.

"So do you still think he will come for you?" He asked looking into her eyes sincerely curious.

"Yes." She said confidently as she felt the knife cut through the inside of her thigh close to the artery.

"I wish you would panic." He told her smiling. "It will make your blood flow faster."

"I won't panic." She told him and she suppressed the hiss as he cut through the skin on her other thigh. She must be loosing blood faster then she thought because she was already starting to get dizzy. He knelt down and place another shallow cut by each of her ankles her blood now starting to be pulled from her body by the glow of the book and the king. She could already see her blood had reached him and he was slowly starting to take on a flesh color.

The boy stuck the blade back into its slot above her head and smiled at her.

"It's too late now." He told her as he watched the crimson liquid flow freely from her body.

"Its never to late." She told him before she lost the strength to hold her head up. "Never to late." She murmured again wondering if she believed it as the blood pooled at her feet.

00-00-00-00

He wasn't taking enjoyment from the men that were being slain by his weapon. He had one goal right now and that was to find Yuya. Never had he felt dread before, but he felt it now, it was wrapped around something that he thought he didn't have…a heart. Something in his chest was heavy and it caused him to fight with a passion that he had never known before. The enemies before him didn't stand a chance. They quickly reached a wooden door and forced it open. When they did Kyo realized that his fear was well founded. Not only was the moon filling the room with light the ceremony had already started. His eyes glowed with fury as he saw his Yuya tied to a stone pillar held by shackles around her stomach, upper arms, and calves. Blood dripped from her feet and finger tips flowing freely to the statue of the king. The rows of hooded men moved as a unit, turning towards the intruders and pulling out their weapons.

"We'll take care of these." Sasuke told him.

"Get to Miss Yuya." Yukimura finished a smile on his lips at the though of wiping out an opposing clan.

"What ever." Kyo mumbled slashing his way through the robed men until he reached the statue of the king. Realizing that this stone figure was the source of power draining Yuya's blood he wasted no time. Holding his blade in front of him he ran his hand across the blade making it glow a crimson red.

"Mumyou Jinpu Style…Satsujin Ken. Mizuchi." The words were said softly but with a slash of the sword the statue was sliced in half. "You heard it too, didn't you? The voice of the wind." He whispered softly, even though there was no one of deep threat around him. The girl holding the book screamed at him. Grabbing a dagger hidden in her gowns she rushed towards him, and he took no qualm in cutting her down. He then tuned walking away from the crumbling statue slowly turning into ash. The battle around him was quickly ending he decided not to take part. Instead he walked the few steps to the woman in shackled. Quickly he cut her down catching her body as it fell.

"God woman, how do you do this to yourself?" He tore of part of her yukata and tied it around the shallow cuts on her wrist and ankles, her thighs would have to wait.

She opened her eyes when she realized that she was falling. But she was caught, by strong arms that held her …gently? She opened her eyes and looked to her savior. It was Kyo, she realized, he had come. She watched as he tore her clothes and wrapped her wounds. As he bent over her ankles she raised her hand and laid it gently on his head. For the first time she felt his red hair, surprised that it was soft and silky.

"Kyo…I knew." He stopped his ministrations, surprised that she was awake.

"Woman listen to me this once." He said looking up into her eyes as her hand slid from his hair to his cheek, she didn't realize that her blood was still on her finger tips.

"I knew you would come." She said softly interrupting what he was about to say. She was talking so softly that he had to lean his head closer to hear her. "I wondered, thought that you wanted me to go away…then they said" She closed her eyes for a moment but pulled them back open to finish. She smiled slightly when she recognized that there was concern in his intense red gaze. "They said you were looking for me."

"Listen to me woman." He told her seriously, "I will never say this again. You are not allowed to leave me. You will stay with me until I allow you to die." He shook his head as though he felt the need to strengthen the comment. She looked at him, understanding that this was as close as she would get to a declaration of love. Her eyes softened as she pulled him slightly closer to whisper to him.

"Kyo…I love you too." She told him as gave herself over to his arms and the darkness. He laid a hand to her neck checking her pulse, it was slow but strong. Quickly he gathered her up in his arm, her slight weight nothing as he walked to the other warriors waiting on him. Yukimura peeked to check on Yuya brushing a friendly hand across her cheek. He smiled at Kyo's growl.

"Well are we gonna stand here all night?" Sasuke asked sarcastically already headed for the exit followed by Saizo and Yukimura. Kyo for a moment stood still and looked around him. There were bodies and blood everywhere…normally he would have enjoyed the sight but he felt nothing. He then looked down at the beautiful woman in his arms and then he did feel something. He felt complete. He looked to Yukimura who was watching him curiously.

"Burn it to the ground." He ordered walking past the Sanada leader. The man laughed and clapped a hand on his back.

"Planning on it my friend."

00-00-00-00

The sun was warm on her face as she slowly started to wake. Slowly her mind started to filter through all the memories that it had stored from the night before. She smiled slightly, not opening her eyes yet. She felt a little sting from her wrist, ankles, and thighs but she could tell that her injuries were cleaned and bound. It was then she also realized that she was naked. Angry for a moment, she calmed herself slightly realizing her clothes had to be removed for her to be properly cared for. Finally she decided that enough was enough and she opened her eyes. She looked around the room, realizing that she was in an inn. Her yukata and obi was folded in the corner and there was a bowl filled with reddish tinted water and a bloody rag. There was also a small table in the room that held flowers and linens; she then saw her pistol, and joy rose in her heart. She was not sure when she had lost it but Kyo had found it for her, and like before he gave it back. She glanced around the room looking for Kyo and found him sitting in the corner.

He had known the minute that she woken up. Her breathing had changed slightly and she had moved for the first time since last night. He assumed that it had taken her body that long to replace the blood that she had lost. They were lucky that the ceremony had called for shallow cuts, if not she may not have lived. The Sanada trio had left the day before with jokes and laughs, and told Kyo to tell Yuya that their thoughts were with her.

"Kyo." His head jerked up when she whispered his name. His eyes met hers and always he read forgiveness in them. How did she know that he was blaming himself…he had just figured it out not that long ago. "Kyo." She said again raising her hand; she was still weak from blood loss. He placed his sword to the side and walked over to her sitting next to her.

"Stupid woman… how did you get this done to yourself?" He asked her doing something very uncharacteristic and took the hand that she had raised.

"I didn't mean too." She said soft smile on her dry red lips.

"Still. Trouble surrounds you, woman." She paid no mind to what he said but asked the question that she had wondered since she had awakened.

"Did you mean it?" She asked and for a moment he debated. He could take it back and everything could be like it was. But he was here already beside her holding her small gentle hand in his.

"Yes." Then she smiled a bright smile that he was sure could match the sunshine, and for the first time ever in his life a real, genuine smile graced his battle hardened features. Then with a strength that seemed to surprise them both she had launched herself into his arms, the blanket wrapped around her keeping her modesty intact. Instinctively he wrapped his arms around her to keep balance for both of them. "Bitch." He muttered the smile feeling odd for a moment before she pulled back.

"I like your smile." She told him a blush racing across her cheeks as she looked down studying a spot on his clothing. When he didn't say anything she looked back up and studied his eyes. Then he leaned down and brushed his lips casually against hers. She gasped slightly at the contact and lifted a hand from his shoulders to brush them across her lips.

"I love you, Kyo." She told him fully realizing that she may never hear the words from him, but when he lowered his head to her lips and kissed her, this time in a more possessive manner, she realized, that as long as he showed her she could live without the words. In a way she had already heard them once, and even though in that moment she had been injured and surrounded by death, it had been the happiest moment in her life. She raised her arms and placed them around his neck and kissed him back.

Next time he told her to go away; she would just smile and take his hand, and remind him that she wasn't going anywhere, because she wasn't allowed to leave.

THE END

Okay so let me know how my first SDK fic was. I tried hard to keep everyone in character, but kept in mind that it had been 2 years and there would be some changes. The Yamato Clan is an actual part of Japanese history but not in the way described here. It was simply the first name that came to mind. Let me know what you think!

Thanks for reading!

Cat


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